Dear All: I will be on a mini blogging break for the next few days (and a little less active on Twitter). Pl. expect some delay in my responses to your comments and in moderating comments.  I expect to be back online by 4th Jan 2010.
In the meantime, please take a dip into the “Archives” – now stocked with 1000 posts, stretching over five years – where I hope you will find something of interest. Or pl have a look at the “Categories” drop down menu (and don’t forget the …

Dear All: I am opening this thread to provide a place to discuss all aspects related to Conversions, Christianity, Islam etc.
Please be sensitive in your comments. No personal abuse please. I will be deleting and editing comments that I feel have crossed the line. If you feel I have overlooked something, please alert me by leaving a comment here. Have a good discussion.
For those of you who may be new here, please have a look at my comments policy (and a shorter version here). If you do not wish to …

From the Indian Army website:
The Param Vir Chakra is awarded for most conspicuous bravery or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self sacrifice, in the presence of the enemy, whether on land, at sea, or in the air. The decoration may be awarded posthumously.
*** Saluting our Heores – Lance Naik, Albert Ekka, PVC ***

A tribute to Lance Naik Albert Ekka, PVC
Early December 1971, Eastern border: The flood of refugees fleeing from the genocide in East Pakistan keeps swelling by the day. The simmering tension on the border is …

…this song was released today (as in this day and age)…

In case you are wondering what this is about, let me draw your attention to these lyrics towards the end of the song (see frm 3:43 onwards)
***
Main kaise Khuda haafiz kah doon
How can I say goodbye
Mujhko to kisi ka yakeen nahin
I just don’t trust anybody
Chup jaao hamari ankhon me
Hide yourself in my eyes
Bhagwan ki neeyat theek nahin
Even God cannot be trusted
***
Would there have been protests? calls for a ban? hartals? violence? Would the producer been forced …

Three brief excerpts for the weekend on why China is becoming a worry for the global economy and why those numbers are hard to believe…
First, an extract from China has now become the biggest risk to the world economy by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard:
…”The inherent problems of the international economic system have not been fully addressed,” said China’s president Hu Jintao. Indeed not. China is still exporting overcapacity to the rest of us on a grand scale, with deflationary consequences.
While some fret about liquidity-driven inflation, Justin Lin, World Bank chief economist, said …

Long-time readers of the blog would remember this piece that I wrote about Lok Paritran and similar outfits almost three years ago. Those developments had given me hope that change was afoot and these organisations and groups that were just starting, could be at the forefront of change in India.
Subsequent developments had tempered my hope but I was still not prepared for what I saw (& read) when I landed on the Lok Paritran web-site this morning (thanks to a friend who alerted me).
The contents of the site are not …